back to the grind

the wisconsin dells vacation was a success. it's an ungodly tourist trap, but we managed to have fun. ;) hannah planned our first day there, as her prize for winning monopoly (she totally hustled us). we got on the road around 6:30am thursday, and ran into some serious rain. we got in around 9am, and were able to check into our hotel right away.


then we headed over to the canyon creek riding stables, where bryan and hannah had a blast riding some horses while i sat and read my book. the ride ended up being a great deal; $20 for a one hour ride, and they had all sorts of stuff set up in the woods to look like parts of an old western town - plus we had coupons! hannah thought it was the neatest thing.

we then hit the indian trading post, a childhood favorite of mine. bryan got a cowboy hat, as he had been wanting one for some time and they were a good deal so i could hardly turn him down.


from there we stopped at the dells mining company, which is a giant rip off, but hannah loves panning for gemstones so there you go. she got some rocks, and that makes her happy. they charge you waaaaaay too much for the buckets and then they try to get you in the shop so they can tell you how you can spend more money to have them make jewelery from their rocks, but we managed to avoid that.

we went to danny's 90/94 diner for burgers, which weren't that fantastic, but like i said - this place is total tourist.

we went to the downtown dells to walk around some. after a few blocks, i let bryan and hannah know that it's all the same so there's no reason to do it all - t shirt shop, knick knacks, fudge, t shirt shop, candy shop, bar, t shirt shop... we ended up going to ripley's believe it or not, which was fun and weird.




we picked up some candy (including sour candy liquid shots which bryan and hannah did - hilarious video taken by me), including of course fudge and salt water taffy. after that we headed back to the hotel for a cooling dip in the pool before dinner.

we ate dinner at marley's jamaican, which was way overpriced for what it was, but it wasn't horrible. i had the jerk chicken and bryan had the jerk combo platter - pork, chicken, and red snapper. the meat was at least smoked, so it was very tender and flavorful. the place itself is kind of overdone, and they put umbrellas on everything (including water and the food) so we ended up with quite a pile by the end of dinner. we got a coupon for 50% off the mini golf place next door when we paid, so we headed over there and played 18 holes. hannah loves mini golf and she does pretty well so that was fun.

friday was waterpark day. we ate an early breakfast at mr. pancake then headed to mt. olyumpus. we hit the theme park first. bryan and hannah had a total blast on the roller coasters, and of course the go carts. i ended up sitting and reading by the wave pool, which nearly put me to sleep (i do love naps). we then hit some of the water attractions, though the weather wasn't cooperating much (overcast most of the day) so hannah didn't last too long wet. we ended up going back to the theme park for more of that fun. all in all, i wish we had had better weather for water fun, but we spent the day there and hannah is now officially a coaster chick.

for dinner, we went to the cheese factory, a gourmet vegetarian place i had read about online before the trip. it was fantastic! the food was great. they even had a real soda fountain, so bryan and i had handmade phosphates. we started with their "rattlesnake" tofu, (Seasoned charbroiled tofu served with our homemade BBQ sauce and black beans), which was tasty. i had the lasagna (A hearty serving layered high with spinach, mushrooms, veggie “meat” (gluten), and Mozzarella, Romano and Ricotta cheeses, on a bed of marinara sauce, with garlic bread). it weas very good. very cheesy, very flavorful. bryan had the delhi delicious (A unique blend of flavors & textures filled with the aromatic spices of East meets West: crisp fried eggplant, chickpea stew seasoned with fragrant Indian spice blend, served in a nest of organic brown rice. Garnished with cranberry chutney, deep-fried banana and sour cream), which he enjoyed very much. hannah had the kiddie grilled cheese, always a favorite. hannah was too full for dessert, but i had the glorious chocolate cake (Devil’s Food Cake layered with rich chocolate mousse filling and covered in chocolate ganache) and bryan had the hazelnut torte (Toasted hazelnut and pecan cake between layers of sweetened whipped cream. Covered in a smooth chocolate coffee frosting). both were giant pieces of cake which we didn't manage to finish, but leftover cake never sucks. ;) we bought the cookbook since we were in need of a really good vegetarian one, and the place was so great.

after dinner, we went to the tommy barlett exploratory, which is the height of 1972 cheese. i'm pretty sure the exhibit hasn't been updated since it opened. it has space, and science, and optical illusions and such and maaaaaaaaaaan is it outdated!! it was pretty amusing though, and hannah loved it (she got to ride the gyro) so all is well i guess.

saturday we began with breakfast at denny's classic diner (not that denny's!). it was a lot of fun! lots of old school kitsch decorating the place; the little rascals played in black in white on the tv while the wurlitzer offered old classics. definitely old school diner. the food was good - classic diner food for sure. i had a giant omlette with hash browns and it totally hit the spot.

next, we headed on to the original wisconsin ducks for a tour of the lower dells. hannah got to sit in front and be co-pilot. :) it was a lot of fun. our tour guide reminded me a lot of my sister katie - totally snarky. she was a lot of fun.

we went to the downtown dells to try out the wizard quest, which bryan had found good reviews for online. the idea is that you have to free 4 wizards in these different realms. you explore the realms and find clues to answers for a list of questions they give you in the beginning, which you then input into a computer (at the "dragon depot") to earn "glimmers" in order to free the wizards. depending on how many wizards you free in what amount of time you win!.... a discount in the gift shop. the place was dark, and some of the clues confusing, and there were kids running all over yelling. hannah thought it was SO COOL but bryan and i have been more impressed. ;)


we grabbed a quick and late lunch at moosejaw pizza. we ordered the taco pizza, which would have been fine except they used marinara sauce (and they serve it with a side of taco sauce so why don't they just use that??) and by "tortilla chips" they meant "doritos", which was kind of disappointing. they do brew their own soda and beer though, which is kind of neat.

we stopped by an antique shop to pass some time, where i actually found something i wanted to buy - but they had lost the keys to the case it was in so i was out of luck. go figure.

we had a reservation to see the 4pm show at the broadway dinner theater, which was disney's high school the musical. for those of you not familiar, high school the musical is an absolute phenomenom with the 6 - 13 yr old set. it's grease in 2006 for the 'tweens. hannah was pretty pumped and enjoyed the show a lot, even if it wasn't exactly like the movie. ;) during the closing number, i realized one of the dancers looked like a girl i went to high school with, which i confirmed after the show. small world! hannah bought a poster and got signatures from the main stars. she got to meet the girl who played sharpei, and about fainted she was so excited.

we had a small dinner at the cheese factory. i had the grilled cheese (A grilled double decker of Wisconsin sharp cheddar and Swiss cheeses with Roma tomatoes on sourdough bread), which i had been eyeing. it was huge and delicious. the salad that came with it had a raspberry dressing that was so good! bryan had the reuben (Veggie pastrami (gluten), Bavarian sauerkraut, smoky mustard sauce, and Swiss cheese on home made dark caraway rye bread). in his past kitchen travails, he had attempted to make a veggie reuben but was never successful. so he was happy to be able to try a good one - and we have the recipe in the cookbook so i expect to be eating one soon! :) we were too full for dessert this time, unfortunately. we headed back to the hotel and sat by the pool for a bit while hannah swam before bed.

sunday, we checked out of the hotel early and began the day with another breakfast at mr. pancake, at hannah's request. then we drove over to the wisconsin deer park. hannah thought it was soooooooo coooooooool that you could pet the deer - no fences! bryan was impressed by all the animals with horns. shocker, right?

we headed back to the indian trading post so hannah could spend the rest of her money. i let bryan talk me into buying a cowboy hat (i have no idea where i'll wear it), and we sat around while hannah chose a selection of rocks. she got one huuuuge crystal that she's pretty excited about.

our last stop was the market square cheese shop, which is a tradition. i'm just mad i forgot to get a picture of us with mr. mouse! :( i picked up an 8 yr old cheddar (makes the BEST grilled cheeses), and a nice parm reg, and bryan found a swiss spread. we ended up using the parm in a salad we had for dinner last night, and it was very tasty.

after that, we jumped on the highway for the trip home. we stopped near madison to visit with dirk some, and had some tasty lunch at a new-ish old school diner in the area. my hamburger was super messy and quite good. after that, we were back on the road, where hannah and i had a little post lunch nap. we made it home by 3 or so, to some very happy doggies. i was happy to be home and see them!

tonight is national night out. shannon is coming over, since hannah has been dying to have a sleep over with her. we're going to hit up this night out thing and hopefully have some fun.

tomorrow night is the lucinda williams concert at the pabst, which we're pretty pumped about.

wednesday hannah leaves. :( then it's back to house work - painting, getting ready for the baby, and the other stuff on the giant list i've made for bryan.

the long way home

the share drive is down today, and since my documentation is complete for my current project, that means i am having a slow day (as is the printer). at least the meetings start soon and there are always plenty of those around here.

bryan and i found a house that meets our needs wonderfully. we made an offer last tuesday night, and they accepted without counter on wednesday! we had the inspection done friday, and he found some electrical updates which would be wise to complete (and which we're willing to pay for) and some movement in the basement walls (estimate to fix: $7200). so we're asking the sellers to fix the basement prior to close, as we'd like to put up drywall down there soon after we move in. they're already out of the house and want to close quickly, so we're hoping both that they accept and that they are willing to get right on it. with any luck, we'll close in the next 2 weeks and have a place of our own! shannon and i have already been all over the home depot and lowe's paint departments and chosen all of our colors. i am so lucky to have shannon working interior design for free! she has measured every bit of the house and is already creating her architectural space planning design and will be making up design boards as well. she's pretty excited about shopping with my money. while there is nothing that needs to be done to the house (except putting up fencing for the doggies), we do plan on making some updates and changes, probably in a 5 year plan. we're going to reno the kitchen pretty quickly, as well as finish out the basement. we've already ordered our new kitchen appliances and i looooooove them. we were finally able to agree on a fridge, which was a big relief. i wanted a bottom freezer with french doors on the fridge, stainless, and while bryan agreed in theory, he didn't agree in price. we worked through that though, and i managed to get what i wanted without breaking the bank. ;) i finally get a 5 burner stove with a separate warming oven, so i'm in heaven. shannon and i need to hit up some more places to figure out cabinets, flooring, and countertops. there are so many options out there it makes it toughto decide. plus, once you buy it, you're stuck with it! but i'm extremely excited to be able to design our new kitchen. we'll also be doing lots of paint, which will involve pulling down wallpaper. luckily, shannon and bryan are experienced at that! we'll eventually want to update both bathrooms, and put french doors off the back of the house, but those are not top priorities right now. don't worry though, i have spreadsheets going already, and those will soon feed into project plans. you can never be too organized, especially when you're spending a whole ton of money. we're meeting with the lender tonight to sign all the paperwork there, and we should be hearing from the sellers before the end of today regarding the basement, so with any luck we'll be able to set a close date before tomorrow is through. keep your fingers crossed for us!

the house stuff has been consuming the majority of our time lately. i'm trying not to be overly anxious while we wait for all this decisioning to be over, but i'm so excited to move that it's tough. at least i have work now to fill some of my time.

the new job has been going well. i am definitely learning a lot. the banking/insurance business is pretty interesting. my first project is winding down soon, and i've already been pulled into their new project, so that's pretty exciting. i am looking forward to having more to do and be in the full swing of things. getting a paycheck now is pretty cool too. still trying to find my comfort level with consulting, which is new to me. so far i like it just fine, just need to get used to not being permanent.

i found out yesteday i've been taking the long way to/from work, which i figured was the case, but didn't know which was was better. one of the women here turned me on to a highway no one uses. that's pretty cool. saves me 10 miles round trip, AND even though it's still twice as far as my drive to work was in atlanta, it takes me less time. go figure. i can't tell you how very much i DO NOT miss atlanta traffic. atlanta traffic made me hate that city cometimes, and even at it's worst, milwaukee traffic's got nothing on that mess in atlanta.

hannah comes soon and we couldn't be more excited. we have so much planned for while she's here. i've made our reservations for our long weekend in the wisconsin dells, which should be a blast. i haven't been there in ages, and i think it will be so much fun to show hannah my childhood vacation spot. i'm also trying to find a close camp spot so we could camp one weekend (or, "mobile cabin" as bryan insists on calling it, since i want to take my parents' camper). all the good places are further away from the city, so we'll see. hannah and i should be planning the menu for the baby shower/birthday party two birds/one stone party tonight. we're going to do a full on bbq, so that should be fun. i wonder if dad would let me pit roast a pig in the garden (nothing is planted so it's all dead space currently). that could be fun. shannon's invites for the event turned out AMAZING. they look so freakin good. i'm pretty excited. it should be fun. i'm looking forward to seeing some folks from out of town, and there are some who have to come or they're not my friends anymore. ;) i'll be calling them to warn them soon.

everything has been going well baby wise. we find out in a week and a half if it's a boy or a girl, so we're pretty excited. that will help us focus our talks about names and hopefully agree on one. :) that will also allow me to start shopping! not to mention my family - my sisters have been dying to know so they can start sending cute clothes. i'm all for that! i luckily have had no real complaints, as this pregnancy has been very easy. i'm not too thrilled about the growing belly and the achy feet, though. i do now love elastic wasited pants, and that is something i thought i would never say. i've bought some very supportive shoes, since i don't want my feet to expand and not fit into my shoe collection (horror of horrors!). but all in all, it's been a smooth ride, and i'm hoping it will stay that way.

lucinda williams is coming to the pabst theater at the end of july. we may be lucky enough to see her twice in one year! mom and shannon want to go, so that could be a lot of fun. tickets go on sale tomorrow, so we shall see!!

that's all for now!

bryan and i had the incredible pleasure of seeing lucinda williams at the tabernacle this past saturday night. what a show. the show was absolutely fantastic in every way (except for the whore girls next to us wanting to get in/out of their seats every 2 minutes). we just love her. she is brilliant, a legend. i hope we get a chance to see her again soon.